Chat found Ladybug sitting atop the Eiffel Tower. He smiled and landed silently next to her.

"You look beautiful tonight, my Lady."

Ladybug smiled at him and stood.

"You don't look half bad yourself silly kitty. Purr-haps a bit of bed head."

Chat cocked his head to the side and grinned. Ladybug was still trying to get used to his new fangs and focused on those while he smirked.

"I can't believe mew made a cat pun be-fur-e me."

"I'm in a good mood."

Chat smiled and sidled up to her, staring at her with a love struck expression.

"How's the view?"

"Breathtaking, wouldn't you say." Ladybug looked out over Paris.

"Amazing…" He smiled still staring at Ladybug. She raised an eyebrow and he glanced out over the city, "Paris doesn't compare."

"You better stop with the flattery, silly kitty." Ladybug folded her arms and turned away.

"Or what?" Chat's grin turned playful. Ladybug gave him a confident smirk. She took off over the rooftops. Chat grinned before following her, keeping up the pace. He would get close and she would evade him with a twist and a grin. She disappeared behind a building. Chat popped over the top and frowned when he couldn't find her.

A flick of red on the horizon caught his attention and his smirked before chasing her.

She was hiding behind a chimney. Chat landed softly on the other side. Ladybug peeked around, as she did so Chat slunk to the other side and grabbed her hand.

"Caught you." He smiled. Ladybug jumped slightly at his sudden appearance, then laughed. Chat smiled wider. He could lose himself in that laugh. He let her hand go and leaned against the bricks.

"So, why are you feline so good today?"

Ladybug smiled, then paused, a thoughtful look crossing her face before she shook her head.

"Just had a good day, finished my homework, had fun with friends. Does it need to be something special?"

Chat shrugged and started walking along the roof, Ladybug followed and they sat on the ledge together.

"How are you doing? Keeping out of trouble I hope." Ladybug teased.

"I am trouble."

"You're a dork, that's what you are."

"Ah, but I'm your dork." He smiled then his expression turned dark and he glanced away. Ladybug frowned wondering what could be bothering him.

"Chat? Are you ok?"

"Just going through some things with my father." He shrugged. "Nothing important. I'll survive." He went back to grinning but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"You want to talk about it?"

"I thought you wanted to keep our identities a secret?" He raised an eyebrow. Ladybug was silent for a moment then shook her head.

"I want to be there for you, you're my friend." She protested, she then sighed and looked away thoughtfully. "I do want to keep our identities secret though. Maybe you can give me generalizations, not specifics."

"Ok…" He paused for a moment gathering his thoughts. "Generalizations, not specifics," he repeated in agreement. "My father cancelled plans I was looking forward to. He apologized and blah, blah, blah, his work is very important, blah, blah, blah, and he'll make it up to me." He rolled his eyes. "This thing we were going to do was him 'making it up to me' for a time before when he cancelled at the last minute, which in turn was making it up from something else he promised and ended up breaking the promise for. He's not so good at keeping his promises." He shrugged and tried to pass it off as no big deal, but inside his anger was building up again.

"I wish I could help." Ladybug gave him a sympathetic look.

"I should expect it by now, but every time he gets my hopes up." Chat shook his head. "No, maybe I was setting myself up for disappointment. I really hoped… I really wanted to go with him to… the thing… but of course he cancelled." Chat's tail flicked angrily behind him. "I've done everything I can for him, I've tried to be the perfect son you know? Tried to do everything to please him. I just thought for once he could spend a little time with me. After everything we've been through! After everything I've been through!" Chat's ears flattened against his head and a slight hiss entered his voice as his frustration grew.

"I don't know… I just…" He shook his head, stood and paced. "After my mom vanished… I don't know. I guess I try to be there for him. Try to help, but what use is it? How can I be there for him if he won't let me even be with him! After all of this I've stood by him, tried to support him in anyway, I've been perfect! I stay on his strict diet, I go to… do things for him, I'm top of my class, I'm fluent 3 different languages and I'm working on a fourth, I can play piano, guitar, violin, I fence, know martial arts, and I even save Paris in my down time! It's just not enough for him!" Chat's hand clenched into fists, then he sighed heavily and shook his head. Ladybug was caught off guard by the amount he had revealed, they both knew he was dangerously close to revealing his secret identity through the amount he'd shared. "I'm just not good enough." Chat trailed off.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not a big deal. I should have expected it. But I still had hope," Chat parroted empty words. "It's my fault for imagining he'd want to spend more time with his son that his job." Chat's cat ears went flat against his head again, he returned to sitting next to Ladybug. Ladybug put her hand on his shoulder and he seemed to relax slightly. They sat in silence for a while. Chat glared at the ground, his thoughts angry. He wasn't sure if he should have shared that all with Ladybug. Her hand was a comforting presence on his shoulder, but at the same time he felt as if he was going to explode. He shook his head and smiled at Ladybug who looked at him with concern.

"I'll be fine, just needed to blow off some steam. I have class in the morning, what do you say we call it a night." He stood pulling Ladybug to her feet with him. She nodded.

"For what it's worth Chat, I think you're good enough. I couldn't do this without you." She smiled.

Chat nodded and Ladybug swung away, he stared after her until he could no longer see her.

"Thanks, my Lady. I think you're lying to make me feel better, but thanks." He sighed and began wandering around the rooftops.

He went slowly. He wasn't anxious to return home. He needed to sort out his thoughts, plus the rebellious act of staying out late made him happy. Even if he realized it was petty.

He kicked a piece of loose tile and growled. He was disappointed, angry and sad even. He wasn't sure what all he was feeling, maybe some resentment or some resignation? He came to a stop and sat on the edge of the roof again, staring at the street below.

His father had promised that he'd take Adrien to see A Midsummer Night's Dream on Friday. Adrien had been looking forward to it, not just the show, but sharing the experience with his father. Was he surprised that Gabriel Agreste had cancelled? No. Was he still disappointed? Yes. But why did he have so much anger about it. His father had cancelled time and time again, usually leaving Adrien with Nathalie to see the show; what had changed that made him so angry? Chat jumped up irritated again and ran a hand through his hair, he realized he was shaking from the anger.

A low growl rose in his throat and he took off running, pushing himself faster and faster. He eventually came to a stop on a roof across from a familiar bakery.

"Marinette." He smiled softly. He glanced about before his eyes rested on a small cat in the windowsill. The cat had been propped up against the window pane and its bright button eyes gave a slight glow in the twilight. Chat sighed in relief and used his staff to launch himself across the street to the balcony. He landed lightly and gave two soft raps on the skylight. Marinette's smile greeted him from below. She held up a finger, mouthed the word "wait" and she disappeared from view. Chat curiously looked for her around the room. She was returning with a small box.

Chat stepped back from the sky light as Marinette opened it and joined him on the roof. Chat sniffed the air, it smelled of freshly baked cookies and his mouth started to water.

Marinette sat down on the lawn chair and held the box out to Chat.

"You made me cookies purr-incess? Thank Mew." He took the box and opened it, the cookies were still warm, and he wasted no time in shoving one in his mouth, an action that would have appalled his father. He took small comfort in that.

"Well I do work at a bakery, we made a few extra and I decided to take some up to my room. My papa says it's a wonder how I'm so skinny." She laughed. Chat sat across from Marinette on the floor.

"I'm surprised you allowed me to see you so soon. Anything interesting happen at school?"

"You're tolerable for the time being Chat, and as a matter of fact I had an excellent day." She smiled, Chat took another cookie and grinned, mouth full of chocolate. Marinette rolled her eyes at him but continued her story. "You know my crush right? I got to have lunch with him, he might even be helping me with this project I'm working on as class president." She then blushed. "Oh no, he's going to be in my house… in my room!"

"Your room looks fine?" Chat cocked his head to the side curiously.

"You don't understand! I have pictures of him from magazines in there! He's going to think I'm a total creep…" She bit her lip. "I'll have to take them down before he gets here."

Chat was caught between laughing, being flattered that she had saved magazine pictures of him, and being slightly concerned about whether or not she was a stalker. He shoved another cookie in his mouth. He thought of the pictures he'd saved of Ladybug downloaded from the Ladyblog and shrugged; he was obviously no better, he'd give Marinette the benefit of the doubt. He ate another cookie and looked up at Marinette. She was lost in thought, Chat prodded her knee but she just shook her head and frowned hard. Chat frowned and poked her again, this time Marinette's eyes focused back on him.

"Sorry. Lots going on." She gave a nervous laugh. "What's up with you?"

Chat shrugged and continued eating cookies. Marinette frowned.

"You're the one who stopped by here for conversation. It's not much of a conversation if I'm the only one talking."

"Plenty of people have one sided conversations with cats." Chat teased with another chocolate grin. Marinette stared at his fangs; he quickly closed his mouth. "Do they bother you?" he asked before cleaning his teeth with is tongue.

"No." She said looking away quickly. She then glanced back at him. "You never had them before. My friend Alya runs the Ladyblog, trust me, I would know. She constantly shows me pictures of the two of you."

"They're new." He smiled so that she could see them better, this time without chocolate.

"Hmmm…" She stared at them. Chat grinned wider she looked up at his eyes a slightly pained expression came over her face. Chat panicked.

"What!? What's wrong?"

"It's just… I… I'm not sure." She shook her head. Chat stared at her. They lapsed back into silence; Marinette seemed to study him while Chat shrank under her gaze. It was like she was exposing him; maybe she had realized he was Adrien. He lowered his head staring into the cookie box. He'd eaten about four and tried to convince himself he was debating on eating a fifth, but in reality Marinette blue eyes pierced his soul, he couldn't keep looking at them.

"Are you ok, Chat?" Marinette asked. Chat looked up and gave her a crooked smile.

"Of course, Princess."

"Don't lie."

"You caught me red pawed; I lied." He smiled. Marinette's eyes were kind.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I know it might put your identity at stake." She said and then she took a breath. "But if you wanted to talk, I'll listen."

Chat smiled at her.

"I've already had my rant for the night. Long story short, I'm not good enough, my father is being an arse, yet I still want his validation and attention." Chat shrugged before helping himself to another cookie.

"If you keep eating those at that pace you're going to get sick." Marinette folded her arms. "And besides that, you are perfectly good enough. Don't let your father make you feel like you're not."

Chat glanced over at her and closed the cookie box.

"Tell me more about lunch with Adrien." He smirked eager to change the topic.

"It was amazing. We talked for a while. He plays video games, I guess he's more into MMORPG's though, I'm personally the best Ultimate Mech Strike player France has ever known." She struck the "firepower" pose, "When Marinette is on the controller it's off the hook!" She announced. Chat laughed.

"Ah it's just as I thought." Chat shook his head his hand lightly touching his forehead mimicking a dramatic anime style pose.

"What?" Marinette's eyes narrowed.

"You're a dork." Chat teased as returned to his Cheshire self.

"And you're not!?" She huffed, her cheeks puffed out as she glared.

"Guilty as charged, Princess."

Marinette rolled her eyes again.

"You're intolerable. Here make yourself useful…" Marinette said as she opened the skylight.

"I'm already useful." Chat folded his arms and looked pointedly away.

"Make yourself more useful and help me take down these pictures." Marinette rolled her eyes as she entered her room through the skylight. Chat at the edge of the light and looked into her room with wide eyes, watching as she started to gather pictures of Adrien from the walls. She turned to look for him then frowned looking back up the skylight where he sat.

"What are you waiting for?" She frowned folding her arms.

"But this is your room." Chat offered.

"Yeah, so?"

"I mean… it's your room… and your parents don't know I'm here… and it's after hours… it's…" Chat shook his head. "I don't want to impugn your honor, Purrincess."

Marinette turned bright red and seemed to be caught between yelling and exploding. Chat backed away, his ears down turned and looking quite pitiful.

"My honor is just fine thank you." She turned on her heel and continued pulling pictures off the walls. Chat watched as the stacks of photos grew. Marinette carefully wrapped them and stuck them in a drawer, making sure to stick some fabric above it. She turned back to Chat and frowned.

"What happened to being useful?" She teased.

"Cats do what they want."

Marinette laughed and climbed back out onto the roof. Chat returned to his box of cookies and decided to eat another; at a slower pace this time.

"Do they get in the way?"

Marinette asked suddenly. Chat frowned.

"The cookies?" he licked his lips.

"No… those things." She pointed to his mouth then her own teeth. Chat ran his tongue over the points in his mouth.

"Not really… I don't really notice them unless I think about them I guess." He shrugged before finishing his cookie. Marinette watched from her seat thoughtfully.

"Did… did it hurt?" She finally asked. Chat paused.

"Did what hurt?"

"Whatever made you like this." Marinette blushed. Chat frowned.

"I made me like this." He hissed then shoved another cookie in his mouth.

"Th-that's not what I meant. I'm sorry. That came out more insensitive than I was going for." She looked away sadly. Chat sighed, he hadn't meant to snap at her.

"My ring." He said. Marinette looked back at him, he raised his right hand and pointed to the finger his ring had previously been on. "It is… or was called a Miraculous, or sometimes a Miracle Stone… it gave me my powers." He said. Marinette nodded. "I usually wore it here… but now I wear it in here." He put his hand over his heart above the glowing paw print and smiled softly.

"According to Plagg my heart is now the Miraculous, because when I made a deal with him it was my heart I pledged. I was just pledging it to the Miraculous though. At the time Ladybug was about to die, my transformation had worn off, and I was just weak, boring, useless me. When I pledged my heart, my soul, to the Miraculous I was pledging it to Ladybug. With the pledge came the power to save her, to protect her, to be better, to be good enough to be of any use. And yes; it hurt. It burned as if someone ran me through with a hot poker." His hand clenched above his heart.

"Are you ok with what happened? Is Ladybug ok with this?" Marinette's eyes were sad.

"She told me she was worried about the consequences, that others like me that had pledged to the Miraculous had died young and tragically. Plagg told me that others like me had never been able to lead a normal life again, that they gave up the life they had." Chat took a deep breath. "But Marinette… I've never been so happy before. Sure my home life is still a mess but this just means I can escape whenever I want, just leave. There was always a bit of dread for me, about what my life would be like without the Miraculous, without a purpose; but now I don't have to worry about it. It's not like I want to die, but if it does happen, at least my life would amount to something, I would have done something with it, I would have made a difference." He grinned. "Anyway, I don't plan on dying anytime soon. I have too much to live fur meow."

Marinette sighed.

"I know you did it for the right reasons Chat… But don't you worry about the consequences too?"

Chat was silent then he shook his head.

"I'm not sure what the consequences are exactly. Other than having to be Chat Noir until I die. Which I don't imagine will happen anytime soon."

Marinette was quiet. Chat sighed.

"Don't tell me you're worried about this too."

"I don't know Chat, maybe you're not taking this seriously enough. A soul, a heart, is an awfully big thing to give away." Marinette moved to put her hand on his shoulder then seemed to think better of it.

"It's late, I should go. I'm keeping you up. You have school." Chat pulled away and walked to the edge of the balcony, jumped onto the railing and perched there for a moment. "Goodnight Princess."

"Goodnight Chat."

And then he was gone.

Adrien was absent.

Marinette knew he was at a photo shoot but that didn't help her nerves. Maybe he wouldn't show up, maybe he would drive off with a fabulous young fashion designer leaving Marinette to work in a sweat shop but then 20 years later he would stop by to visit the sweat shop and wouldn't even recognize her because she'd be old from stress and he'd still look fabulous.

Alya told her that it was unlikely. She also told her not to joke about sweatshops. Marinette defended that she wasn't trying to joke but that her imagination ran way with her sometimes.

Alya said she knew.

Marinette waited in her room, unable to concentrate on homework and buzzing with excitement. She had taken Adrien's schedule down and rolled it up, hiding it away where he would never find it. She tried to focus but couldn't. Her hand nervously bounced the pencil in her hand up and down as she tried to focus on calculus.

"Marinette, you're going to wear a hole through the table if you keep taping your pencil like that." Tikki warned. Marinette dropped the pencil and leaned back in her chair.

"I… I'm just so nervous Tikki. What if he doesn't like my ideas? What if I stab him with a needle and he gets tetanus and dies? What if when I'm talking I say something really stupid and he hates me for the rest of his li-"

"Calm down! You're getting too worked up. You're Ladybug! If you can't talk to your crush then no one can. You can do this!"

"He's more than a crush Tikki, he's the love of my life."

"Marinette, you're too caught up in your emotions. You need to relax. Adrien likes you! You don't need to go crazy trying to be someone he likes when you are already friends. There's no need to be nervous." Tikki patted Marinette's hand.

"I don't know. Maybe… I mean what could go wrong?" Marinette smiled, then she started thinking about it and grabbed her head. "So much could go wrong Tikki. He could trip up the stairs and hit his head, he could find my many pictures of him and call me a stalker, then get a restraining order, then I'd have to go to a new school, cut off from Alya and especially Adri-"

"Marinette! Your friend Adrien is here!" Sabine called from downstairs interrupting Marinette's monologue. Tikki gave a small sigh of relief, slightly amused as Marinette freaked out.

"Ack! That's him! Hide!" Marinette stumbled and fell as Tikki flew off into hiding.

"Just be yourself!" were her last words of encouragement.

Adrien knocked on the door.

"Marinette? Are you ok?"

"Fine! I'm coming." Marinette scampered to her feet and pulled the door open allowing Adrien into her room. He glanced around with a smile.

"Nice room."

"Th-Thanks."

"Where do we begin?"

"Ah… designs… fabrics… no, no, no… designs!" Marinette was shaking slightly as she pulled a drawer open and handed Adrien some sheets of designs. There were several sketches of the cushions and how they would look, various ideas of how to make them easy for students to carry, including the ideas Adrien had suggested. Adrien glanced over them.

"Impressive. I personally prefer this style." He pointed to a square pillow. "Thought this one is cute." He smiled pointed to a small cat shaped cushion doodle. Marinette blushed.

"Y-yeah… I was just thinking of Paris' superheroes. I designed a Ladybug one for Alya and thought Chat Noir might like his own, even if no one ordered one." Marinette pulled a bag out from another drawer. "These are the fabrics I've purchased, I'm hoping to get at least one cushion done a day starting next Monday, but some of the details will be a little bit hard to manage in one day. So I'm thinking we can work on adding the details on the days when the two of us are together." Marinette explained, her words coming easier now that she was focused on a topic she was confident in. "That way we can get a few cushions finished off at a time. Today we just need to work on patterns."

Adrien nodded.

"Do you make your own patterns too?"

"Usually, but sometimes I use patterns I've bought and modify them. It depends on if I like the style."

"Cool." Adrien smiled.

"I-I'll probably make the patterns for the cushions. It's easier to get what I want that way but first we had to settle on a design."

Adrien nodded in agreement, they spent a few minutes talking about the designs when Tom and Sabine poked their heads through the trap door.

"We brought cookies." They chorused with smiles.

"We don't need cookies, we're working." Marinette said curtly, miffed about the interruption. Her parents retreated. Adrien frowned. "Sorry about them." Marinette laughed nervously.

"Your parents seem nice." He offered in their defense.

"Nice yes, but a little overbearing at times." Marinette sighed. Adrien laughed.

"I understand the overbearing part. Honestly I have to word everything very carefully when talking to my father. Not that it happens all that often." He shrugged.

"Maybe he's just b-busy with being the world's leading fashion expert." Marinette offered a small smile.

"Yeah." Adrien focused on the designs, but cast a glance over at Tom and Sabine who had cracked the door open and were listening in. He smiled at them while Marinette glared. The door snapped shut.

"I don't quite have the talent you do…" Adrien sighed but he pulled a folded up paper out of his back pocket and handed it to Marinette, "But I hope they are decent enough to make sense."

Marinette took the designs and surveyed them; he had made diagrams showing how the straps connected. He had written neat instructions off to the side explaining his hastily drawn designs.

"This is a good idea. I like the variations. I think Rose would appreciate the bow on this one." She smiled. Adrien smiled back and her heart melted.

"I've actually never done any sewing or design before." Adrien admitted.

"Oh… I'm sure you'll be fine." Marinette assured.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence… I just wanted to feel useful… and to be honest… I wanted to get to know you a little bit better without you… you know… running away." Adrien looked sheepish. Marinette turned bright red.

"I… I'm sorry!"

"Don't get flustered! I'm… I shouldn't have said anything." He looked away seeming angry with himself.

"No! It's ok! I mean I love having you in my room… well not my room… yes… I like seeing you I mean! You're nice, you're funny, you're smart, you're handsome…" Marinette realized what she said and covered her face while she blushed.

"Marinette?" Adrien jumped confused by her sudden embarrassment. Marinette turned away from him. "Marinette?" Adrien prompted again. She just shook her head.

"I'm sorry." Adrien offered. Marinette jumped.

"Sorry what for?"

"I've made you uncomfortable. It wasn't my intention. I… I've seen the way you act around other people. How protective you are of them, how kind, compassionate, and I guess… I guess I wanted to be your friend too. You know?" Adrien's voice was soft, quiet, like he was telling her a secret. "You just get so flustered around me. I wasn't sure why but… I thought if we hung out more you might be less so." He explained. Marinette's heart skipped a beat, he'd complimented her, he thought highly of her, and he looked so worried now that he'd spoken. Like he was waiting for her to reject him.

Unfortunately she didn't have a chance to reply when a scream sounded from outside. Adrien jumped up and ran to the window Marinette behind him.

People were running from what looked like an archer from the MMORPG Adrien and Nino had been talking about the previous day. Adrien balked as the archer neared the bakery. Adrien pulled her down to the ground and away from the window.

"I'm going to make sure you're parents are ok!" Adrien jumped up running to the door and flinging it open. "Stay here, stay safe." Adrien ordered. He ran down the stairs closing the door behind him. Marinette frowned then peeked out the window watching the Archer. His arrows had glowing blue tips, they were shaped like small rods and when the touched someone they exploded into various colored gems which the Archer collected in a bag. He also had arrows with golden tips, when they touched people the people turned to EXP, which the Archer collected to level up.

"Tikki, Transform; Ladybug!" Marinette called, and Tikki zoomed out of her hiding place and into Marinette's earrings transforming her into a superhero.

Ladybug slipped onto the roof stealthily. Chat Noir was already on the scene dodging arrows fired at him by the Archer, at one point knocking an arrow into a nearby car, which exploded into a shower of gems. Ladybug swung into action and grabbed Chat out of the way of a golden arrow and onto a nearby rooftop. They took cover behind a chimney.

"My Lady." Chat winked. "I was quivering, but then you arrived."

"Save the puns Chat, let's figure out where his Akuma is." She peeked around the edge to try and survey the situation. The Archer fired at her and she narrowly dodged an arrow and she took cover.

"Straight to the point as always." Chat grinned. Ladybug sighed.

"It's hard to get a good look at him when he's firing arrows at us constantly."

"I'll draw his sights elsewhere."

"Wait, Chat!" Ladybug called, but he was suddenly gone, leaving Ladybug on the roof alone.

She heard him laughing as he vanished. His laughter echoed around the street, the Archer looked wildly around for his target. She spotted Chat leaning against a light post below, the Archer did too and let an arrow fly but Chat slipped around the edge of the post and vanished again. Ladybug frowned deciding not to think about Chat's antics as she tried to figure out which object the Akuma had inhabited.

"I don't want to get in a-row with you." Chat laughed. The Archer turned around. Chat was sitting on top of a car that had been abandoned in the middle of the road during the panic.

"Then bequeath to me your Miraculous." The Archer yelled as he let another arrow fly. Chat dodged, then slipped off the car walking toward the Archer.

"I am the best Archer in the woods! I will not be undone by mere cat." The Archer notched another arrow.

"You can't get a bow-nus by attacking people in real life you know." Chat laughed, knocking the arrow to the side.

"I don't see why not!" The Archer protested as he fired again. Chat caught the arrow seconds away from his chest, and let it fall to the ground, obviously showing off. He then pulled out his baton and clicked a button, a sharp green blade extended from the handle. Chat gave a lazy grin.

"I'll give you the chance to surrender, I am master of the sword." Chat took stance. Ladybug was mildly impressed. He seemed to know what he was doing and on top of that he had an actual sword.

"I will not submit to a sword welding cat!" The Archer show four arrows at a time, Chat cleaved them in half, the Archer rapidly retreating as Chat advanced.

"Paladin, or in this case Puuurladin." Chat laughed at his own pun. "This is why you need to focus on all fields, not just Archery. Your talent arrowdes in close combat." He taunted. Ladybug noticed a glint of metal on the Archer's vest and concentrated on it.

"I have bested all who dare defy me! I am the proclaimed champion! I will prove it to you all!" The Archer aim another arrow at Chat, this one had a red arrowhead instead of the blue rod.

"THE PIN! THE PIN ON HIS VEST!" Ladybug called to Chat. It was a small badge proclaiming victory in an online gaming tournament. Too late she realized she had stepped into the open and away from the chimney to call to Chat.

The Archer was quick, his arrow flying for her, Ladybug didn't even have time to take a step back before she heard the sound of the arrow piercing flesh and saw the tip of an arrow sticking out through fabric, blood pouring from the wound. She began to realize she was staring at the arrow in someone else's chest.

"Too bad he wasn't a Bard." Chat cracked a pained grin.

"CHAT!" She called. Another arrowhead pierced his chest, spraying her with blood. She jumped pulling him back across the roof with her, he grunted, she saw the back of another arrow sticking out of his shoulder. She pulled him behind a wall where the Archer wouldn't be able to see them and sat him down carefully trying not to disturb the arrows and cause him further pain. Chat looked up at her with a weak smile, blood coating his lips.

"YOU STUPID CAT! WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS DOING THIS! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS?" Ladybug held his face forcing him to look at her for he didn't have the strength to hold his head up on his own.

"I couldn't let you get hurt," he said as if it should be obvious. Ladybug swallowed hard. Chat blinked away tears and coughed. His voice was raspy and there was a horrible sound sucking coming from his chest every time he tried to breathe. He coughed again; blood began trickling from his mouth. Ladybug wiped tears away from her eyes.

"COME OUT AND PLAY LADYBUG!" The Archer yelled from the street below. Ladybug held Chat close trying to ignore the way the blood spurted from the wound and the sucking noises his breathes made.

"You stupid cat… you stupid, stupid cat." Ladybug cried

"Ladybug…" He took her hand and squeezed it. "I… I love you." He smiled at her. "I might not get a chance to say it again." He looked torn.

"Shut up, you're not gonna die. You're not allowed to." She sobbed.

"There's a girl… Marinette… tell her I won't be back." Chat was having difficulties keeping his eyes open. "Tell h… her… I'm sorry."

"No, you have to tell her yourself!" Ladybug protested. Chat was struggling hard to breathe.

"You'll do… fine without me… my Lady… you always… always have." He assured.

"I need you Chat! We're partners. We're a team. You have to hold on."

"I don't want to die." Chat looked up at Ladybug scared. Ladybug knew she would be haunted by the look.

"You're not going to die. You're going to live, we have things to do Chat! I can't do this without you."

"My… my Lady… you tell such… b-beautiful lies. I-I've n-never been your knight… you're… y-you're too strong to need one." Chat shivered his grip on her hand slowly loosening. "The g-guy you like… t-tell him." Chat prompted trying to stay focused on Ladybug's face. "Tell him… y-you can do it. Please… tell him."

"Chat?"

"I'm c-c-cold." He shivered. "It's s-so c-c-cold."

"Chat, stay with me. Chat."

"I l-love you," Chat reiterated as he mustered the strength to give her hand another squeeze. His eyes deviated, looking endlessly through her, his body went limp and he shuddered one last time.

She could hear his final breath leaving him like a sigh.

"Chat?" Ladybug shook him. "Chat?" she shook him again. "Please Chat! Chat! Please!" She held him tightly to her and sobbed. She heard screaming from below and remembered the Akuma was still on the loose. She laid Chat down on the roof gently and turned toward the battle.

Ladybug swallowed the lump in her throat. She had to keep it together, she had to focus, and she couldn't let Chat's death affect her judgment. As callous as she felt doing it, she shoved her grief to the side.

She crept to the edge of the roof; the Archer had moved on, he had gone back to using the blue and golden rod arrows and gathering gems and EXP from the people he had shot. She glanced back to where Chat lay, he was on his side, eyes half open and glazed over. She looked away, she couldn't think about that now.

Her usually bright red suit was stained with the dark blood of her partner; she could feel the stickiness of it on her cheeks, her chest, her hands.

She could almost feel her heart breaking as she thought of Chat. She tried to shove away thoughts like "I'll never hear his corny puns again," and, "He and his father are never going to reconcile," and, "I'll have to find out who he is and tell his family, his friends." She ignored the way she wanted to scream at the sky and curse and demand justice. She didn't think about the way patrols would be a one-person job from now on, and she didn't think about how the budding friendship between he and Marinette would be tragically ended. She certainly didn't think about how Tikki had said that the previous Chat Noirs that had made a deal with their Kwami had died young and tragically.

Instead she focused on the task at hand: defeating the Archer.

"LUCKY CHARM!" She called as she flung her yo-yo skyward.

She was left with a bow and a tip-less arrow. She felt as if fate were mocking her, she wanted to throw the arrow down and be rid of it. However, she looked around for its purpose. A pie and a wad of gum. She nodded, realization dawned and she swung close, slipping in the bakery and nabbing a pie. She then crept along the sidewalk hiding from the Archer and picked the wad of gum off the end of a bench then she slipped down an alley while she prepared her creation. The Archer started in her direction and Ladybug froze. Chat Noir would be distracting him at this point making her job easier. She shook away thoughts of Chat.

The Archer grew closer. She took a breath hoping silently that Paris would not loose both of its heroes in one day. She withdrew to the rooftops once more and fired her ridiculous arrow: a pie stuck to the end of the arrow with the wad of gum. The pie arrow flew forward right into the Archer's face and whipped cream flew everywhere. He moved to wipe pie out of his eyes. Ladybug knew she had to act fast. She slung the bow over her body knowing she only had so much time until the Archer cleared the pie enough to see. She was too slow, in mid-swing when the Archer realized she was after him and drew an arrow from his quiver.

Ladybug twisted out of the way, adjusted her trajectory, landed on the Archer's chest and spring boarded off grabbing the pin as she went. The Archer fell to the ground; she wasted no time in stomping on it, breaking it and releasing the Akuma.

"You've done enough harm little Akuma. I'm freeing you from evil!"

She captured the Akuma easily and released it as a little white butterfly. The ritual of waving goodbye to the butterfly, skipped in her grief.

"Miraculous Cure!" She flung the bow and arrow skyward as her earrings beeped.

People were returned to the streets, the pie was returned to its proper place, her suit was cleared of blood and the Archer was revealed to be a guy about her age wearing a shirt that said, "MMORPG's got me all a-quiver." This would be the moment where she would fist bump Chat and they would congratulate each other with a "Mission accomplished." But Chat was gone.

Ladybug ignored the interviewers asking for her and helped the Akuma victim to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

"I… I think so." The guy nodded. Ladybug patted him on the back.

"Everything is alright now." She tried to smile, but couldn't.

"Ladybug! Ladybug!" Reporters were clamoring for her attention waving microphones or cameras her way. She saw Alya among them, eager for her next scoop.

"Ladybug, what are you going to do about the increase in Akuma attacks?"

Her earrings beeped again.

"I'm sorry I have to go." She waved them away content to ignore them

"Where's Chat Noir? Isn't he usually with you?"

"Chat?" Ladybug's face fell and she turned away from the cameras. "He's gone." She whispered. The reporters were suddenly asking question after question, all at once. Her earrings beeped. "Sorry, I have to go." She insisted and swung away from the reporters, making sure she was out of sight before she returned to the rooftop she'd left Chat on with two minutes to spare.

But his body was gone.